OK, Arizonians, Lets keep up the pressure.. SB1113 !!!!

This is a discussion on OK, Arizonians, Lets keep up the pressure.. SB1113 !!!! within the The Second Amendment & Gun Legislation Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; URGENT: Restaurant Carry Bill in Arizona Could Be
Heard at Any Time!
Please Contact Your State Senator Immediately!
Due to absences on the Senate floor ...

OK, Arizonians, Lets keep up the pressure.. SB1113 !!!!

URGENT: Restaurant Carry Bill in Arizona Could Be
Heard at Any Time!

Please Contact Your State Senator Immediately!

Due to absences on the Senate floor earlier today that could have resulted in the death of Senate Bill 1113, State Senator Jack Harper (R-4) voted against his own bill, which in turn allows him to bring it up for reconsideration. SB 1113 would enable concealed weapons permit holders to carry concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol, provided they are not consuming. This important self-defense reform could now be brought back up at anytime, even as early as this afternoon.

It is imperative that you contact your State Senator IMMEDIATELY, and urge him or her to support this crucial right-to-carry reform bill. To find contact information for your State Senator please click here. If you need help determining who your State Senator is

This is as yet unconfirmed but from what I just read the bill passed third reading today 18 yes 10 no 2 abstain. If true then the bill will be sent to the house for a final reading before heading to the governor's desk. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let it get through!

I would still like to see who voted which way on this though. Anyone know?

Due to absences on the Senate floor earlier today that could have resulted in the death of Senate Bill 1113, State Senator Jack Harper (R-4) voted against his own bill, which in turn allows him to bring it up for reconsideration. SB 1113 would enable concealed weapons permit holders to carry concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol, provided they are not consuming. This important self-defense reform could now be brought back up at anytime, even as early as this afternoon.

It is imperative that you contact your State Senator IMMEDIATELY, and urge him or her to support this crucial right-to-carry reform bill. To find contact information for your State Senator please click here. If you need help determining who your State Senator is

Sweet, Thanks for the update. I was looking all day yesterday for the word. I am excited about this one.. Too bad I cant call or e-mail them. I am not a Resident of Arizona, and I cant vote here. Thanks guys for doing that!

I was dissapointed by the No Vote from my Seantor. So I sent him this Email

I just received word on how you voted on SB1113. By not voting, you are displaying your lack of courage to support this bill. I am very dissapointed that you would not stand up on a hot issues like this and would prefer to hide behind a Not Vote

Arizona Gun Legislation

According to AzCDL (Arizona Citizens Defense League):

Action Alert! Time is running out!

AzCDL is being told that the Legislature is going to pack up and go home at the end of this fiscal year – June 30, 2009. That’s less than a week from now! Subtract the weekend and that’s just a few workdays to wrap up about 1,000 bills. It’s not doable. Legislators are getting weary.

In the Senate, SB 1270, the AzCDL-requested Constitutional Carry bill, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 8, 2009. Unfortunately, the bill is being held in the Senate Rules committee due to a problem with the language concerning taking firearms across the border, and, due to the time constraints mentioned previously, it’s effectively dead for the year.

HB 2474, the “Parking Lot” bill, was reassigned to the Senate Retirement and Rural Development (RRD) Committee, and was heard on Thursday, June 25 where it passed by a 4 to 2 vote. In committee, Senator Rebecca Rios, a Democrat voted for HB 2474 while Senator John Huppenthal, a Republican, voted against HB 2474. It was also heard as a strike-everything amendment to SB 1168 in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, June 24, where it passed, 7-4-0. From here, both versions must proceed through Rules, Caucus, COW, and Third Read in their respective chambers before going back to the other chamber for a Final Read, then up to the Governor, a difficult road.

Over in the House, SB 1113 (Restaurant Carry) and SB 1243 (Defensive Display) passed out of the House Judiciary Committee today. Both bills must be reviewed in the House Rules Committee before proceeding. It will be difficult for SB 1113 and SB 1243 to make it through the process before June 30, 2009.

The one bill that has the shortest path to take is HB 2439, which has been amended to include the “Petty Offense” (for carrying concealed without a permit) language that passed both chambers in the last two years. It has already been heard in the House. This afternoon it passed out of the Senate Rules Committee, the last step before proceeding to Caucus and COW debate. From there, it’s on to the Third Read floor vote before being sent back to the House for a concurrence vote (because of the Senate amendments), then on to the Governor. For the moment, our primary focus is the passage of HB 2439, and we need your help! We also need to remind the Senate that we’re watching them. Boot up your computers and warm up those keyboards – it’s time to be heard!

We urge everyone to contact the Senate and politely urge them to support HB 2439. A personal letter is always best. Below is a cut-and-paste template you may use as an example. Following the template are email address lists of the Senate in both semi-colon and comma separated formats.

PHOENIX — There was a time in the Wild West that cowboys had to check their guns before they could pull up a bar stool for a drink — rules that protected against the saloon gunfights that came to define the frontier era in places like Arizona.

But a bill moving through the Arizona Legislature has some bar owners fearful that the state is turning back the clock to the Old West. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow anyone with a concealed-weapons permit to bring a handgun into bars and restaurants serving alcohol.

The bill gives bars discretion to keep gun-toting patrons out, and anyone with a weapon would not be allowed to drink. But the bill has angered bar owners who believe booze and guns are a recipe for disaster.

"This might be one of the stupidest things that I have heard of," said Mike Nelson, who owns Pomeroy's bar in Phoenix and plans to post a sign on his front door outlawing guns in his bar as soon as possible. "Can you think of a single reason guns and alcohol should be intertwined?"

The bill is part of a nationwide push by the National Rifle Association. Georgia passed a similar law in 2008, as did Tennessee earlier this year in becoming the 40th state to allow bar or restaurant patrons to carry guns.

"These laws are common sense," said NRA spokeswoman Rachel Parsons. "Restaurants are not immune to criminal activity. Law-abiding people — regardless of whether they're in restaurants, cars or homes — they should be able to protect themselves against criminal attack."

One of the bill's sponsors, Republican Rep. John Kavanagh, said it's about time Arizona passes such a law, and that the most important thing is that people carrying guns into bars aren't allowed to drink.

"You don't want intoxicated people with weapons, and this bill continues the prohibition against drinking and carrying," said Kavanagh, a retired police officer in New York and New Jersey. "What is the problem with having a gun in a delicatessen where someone is having a beer with their pastrami two tables away?"

The law would only apply to people with concealed-weapons permits because lawmakers say that type of gun owner has to pass a background check and take an eight-hour course to get their permits, and are therefore safer. More than 127,000 Arizonans have concealed-weapons permits, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Arizonans are also allowed to openly carry guns — on a belt or holster, for example. But those people would still not be allowed in bars or restaurants serving alcohol if they're armed.

The bill has been approved by the Senate and is now before the House; Republican Gov. Jan Brewer would still have to OK it.

Marc Peagler, owner of the Silver Spur Saloon Restaurant in Cave Creek outside Phoenix, said he's in favor of the legislation and sees some marketing potential in it.

"I look at it this way — let's just say for a moment you're a crook or a thief," Peagler said. "Are you going to break into a place where you know that there might be 10 to 15 people who are armed? I wouldn't do that."

Peagler, a gun owner himself, said people with concealed-weapons permits aren't people to be concerned about.

"People who carry concealed weapons for the most part are your general law-abiding citizens, and the people who are going to break the law are going to do it no matter what laws we have out there," he said. "If somebody has been drinking and they have a weapon in the car, they're just going to go out and get it."

Frank Murray, owner of Seamus McCaffrey's Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Phoenix, said he opposes the law and will prohibit his customers from coming in armed.

"It's kind of like the Wild West days," he said. "We've got enough nuts out on the street walking around with guns. We don't need them in places with alcohol and families."

The Arizona Licensed Beverage Association threw its support behind the bill after some compromises were made this week. The Arizona Restaurant Association has taken a neutral stance, but in previous years came out against most bills that would have allowed guns in bars and restaurants with alcohol.

This year's bill is one of several measures loosening gun laws moving through the Arizona Legislature.

In May, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would permit gun owners to keep a weapon out of sight in a locked vehicle in a parking lot or garage. That would override employers that ban weapons on their property.

Last week, a Senate committee approved a bill that would allow Arizonans to carry concealed weapons without state permits, despite objections from law enforcement.